The middle school is conducting a toy drive this holiday season: “Joy to the world! Why don’t you bring joy to the world? Families all over the Rochester are struggling. So this Christmas take in part in the Merrier Christmas for all toy/clothing drive. All you have to do is take a star from your teams box, buy a present and then bring the unwrapped present back to your team’s box. The presents brought back will be given to families in need all over Rochester. So let’s help bring some joy to the world.”

The PBIS Universal team has announced that the next PBIS Roll-Out will be introduced to students on Monday, Dec. 3. The title for the roll-out is Mission: Transition and will continue through vacation week.

Step up Week at for eighth graders is the first week of December. Each of the eighth grade teams will be traveling to Spaulding High School during the week, to meet administration, teachers, and students. This is the beginning of the transition process going from middle school to high school. Teams will tour the high in small groups led by high school students.

The first games of the season are Wednesday, Dec. 5, with both girls teams hosting Barrington Middle School. Meanwhile both boys teams will be traveling to Barrington for their games. On Thursday, Dec. 6, the grade 7 boys and girls team will be hosting Sacred Heart School.

Coach Holly Dupuis has announced the tryout schedule for the 2012-13 Spirit Team. Tryouts are Friday, Nov. 30 at RMS from 5:45 to 7 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 1, at the Spaulding High School Gym from 4 to 7 p.m. Students trying out need to wear clothing appropriate for physical activity. Coach Dupuis and assistant coach Theresa Bergeron will be choosing 20 athletes for the mat and 4 alternates for a total of 24 members. All members will cheer at all of the home Grade 8 games. There will be a couple of competitions at the end of the season. Anyone with questions can contact Coach Dupuis at cheerdupuis123@gmail.com.

Coach Alec Clement of the wrestling team has started practices for the RMS team. They are meeting at 6:00 PM daily at the high school. Wrestling experience is not required. Contact Athletic Director Kevin Hebert for more information.

Clubs and Organizations

The RMS Music Department is preparing for the annual holiday concerts. Mr. Diamond and Mr. Richardson have announced the following schedule for their charges: Friday, Nov. 30 — Combined Rehearsal for grade 8 and 7 students from 9:45-10:30 a.m.; Wednesday, Dec. 5 — Combined Rehearsal from 12:40-1:25 p.m.; and Tuesday, Dec. 11 — Dress Rehearsal for all at Spaulding High School from 8 a.m. to noon. The band concert is Tuesday, Dec. 11, at the SHS Auditorium, 7 p.m. The bands will present a shortened concert for their classmates in the school gym on Friday, Dec. 21.

The Student Council is recruiting eighth graders to attend their first dance of the school year. The council is sponsoring a “White-Out Dance” on Friday, Nov. 30. Cost is $6 per ticket which can be purchased during lunch during the week leading up to the dance.

Kindergarten celebrated an early Thanksgiving Holiday with a Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast. Students dressed as Pilgrims and Native Americans while enjoying a variety of traditional Thanksgiving foods. Thank you to all the families who brought in food and came in to help during the feast.

First graders went to see Annie at the Rochester Opera House. Students enjoyed the classic Broadway musical about Little Orphan Annie and her dog Sandy.

Second graders put on a fabulous play of The First Thanksgiving and sang festive songs for their families. After the show, students enjoyed their own Thanksgiving Feast. Students did a super job!

Thank you to the Rochester Rotary Club and Eastern Propane and Oil for donating a Webster’s Dictionary for Students to every third grader in the Rochester School District. William Allen students were treated to a visit by members of the Rotary Club and Eastern Propane to present the dictionaries.

Fourth graders in Mrs. Garland’s class are working on writing autobiographies in newspaper format.

Fifth grade students dissected owl pellets in science. They had a great time identify the different bones found in the pellets. Fifth graders started working on their Renewable Energy Projects. Students are required to research a type of Renewable Energy.

You have one last chance to check out the Holiday Book Fair! It will be open Friday, Nov. 30 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the library. Books make great holiday gifts!

Parents and guardians are invited to an informational eSuite workshop on the Imagine it! Reading and Everyday Math websites students use in the classroom and can use at home to enhance learning. A signup form was sent home with students and needs to be returned by Friday, November 30 in order to participate. The workshop is schedule for Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

William Allen School is running a Penny Drive to raise money to revitalize our school sign. Additional money will be donated by the Student Advisory to a local soup kitchen. The school has been divided into two teams for the drive. Team Borish includes kindergarten through grade 2. Team Foley includes grades 3 through 5. The winning team will receive an extra recess. The winning classroom will receive either an ice cream or a pizza party. Students have until Wednesday, December 5 to bring in money donations. Team Borish is currently in the lead with an amazing $472. Team Foley, currently at $341, has one more week to catch up. Thank you everyone for your generous donations.

Please note the PTA Reflections Art Show scheduled for November 28 has been rescheduled to Wednesday, February 6 from 6 to 8 p.m. Details of the event will be sent home to families in January.

The Rochester Holiday Parade themed Cartoon Christmas will be held on Sunday, Dec. 2 at 3 p.m. William Allen School is once again entering a float in the Youth Division. Students wishing to participate in the parade must have a Holiday Participation Form completed by a parent/guardian and returned to school. Students who want to ride on the float must be chaperoned in the parade by a parent/guardian. Students who are not chaperoned will be able to walk in the parade. Contact William Allen PTA at williamallenpta1011@gmail.com for more information.

The Holiday Music Concert featuring students in grades 1 through 3 and fourth and fifth grade chorus will be at 7pm on Tuesday, Dec. 4 in the Spaulding High School auditorium. Students will attend a dress rehearsal at the high school the morning of the concert. Signed permission slips must be returned to school in order for students to attend the morning dress rehearsal.

The Elementary Band Holiday Concert featuring Beginning and Advanced Band students from all Rochester Elementary Schools will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6 in the Rochester Middle School gymnasium. Advanced Band Holiday Concert Dress Rehearsal is Monday, Dec. 3 from 4 to 5 p.m. in the RMS Band Room. Beginning Band Holiday Concert Dress Rehearsal is Tuesday, Dec. 4 from 4 to 5 p.m. in the RMS Band Room.

A reminder that as cold weather winter temperatures approach, students should be dressed appropriately for outdoor recess. Students will go outside for recess as long as the temperature including wind chill is at least 15 degrees according to weather.com.

Chamberlain School

Students in Ms. Rapoza and Ms. Cabral’s fifth grade classes completed their Immigration Simulation and Keynote Presentations last week after working hard to research a country from their ancestry. Their first round of presentations was a success. They loved using the Keynotes and all the available features to display the information they learned about their country. The Immigration Simulation started when students were given a colored name tag to designate the language spoken from their country of origin. Students were only allowed to speak to other students with the same colored tag. Once they had their tags, they were given an envelope with money to buy a ticket to America. Then they boarded the ‘boat’ to Ellis Island and learned about the experiences of immigrants from around the world. Their ‘month long’ voyage took them into New York Harbor where they saw the Statue of Liberty. They disembarked the ‘boat’ by class with first class being the first to enter the Processing Center. There, the immigrants (students) were asked a series of questions about themselves and family members. If the immigrants were able to answer the questions successfully, they were sent to one of the remaining stations. The Medical Center checked to make sure they were healthy enough to remain in America. The Physical Center tested their physical strength (push-ups, sit-ups, jump rope, etc). The Psychological Center tested their wits and ability to obtain a job in America. Students who had trouble at any station were given an X on their tag which meant that they had to go to the Detention Center for questioning before they could retest again. The final test was the Citizenship Center where the immigrants had to pass a six question test about our country and say the Pledge of Allegiance. Upon completion of all the

Breakfast with Santa will be held on Dec. 8 from 8 to 10 a.m. in the school’s cafeteria.

Thank you to all those who helped make the Harvest Supper a great success. It was a wonderful night with lots of delicious food and great conversation! It was wonderful to see the many food and clothing donations as well as the number of students who wrote letters or drew pictures for our military troops. Thank you PTA for putting together such a great event!

Starting Wednesday, Nov. 28, our school store will be open from 8 to 8:25 a.m. Student council will be helping out during this time. This is a switch from the lunch/recess time that the school store currently is open for. The lunch/recess time posed many challenges with transitions and students who did not have money. We are hoping that this new time will help with these challenges.

Our holiday concert is coming up on Monday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. at Spaulding High School. It was decided to change the concert to the high school to make for a very special evening for our students who have been working so hard since September to put together this show. Also, there is ample parking to accommodate all of our families and the night start time will hopefully make it easier for families to be able to attend. Many of the other larger schools also hold their concert at the high school or middle school for the same reasons and have found that it is really quite a magical night for the students. It is going to be a great night! Please make sure to send back your child’s permission slip for the dress rehearsal that will take place on the morning of the 3rd.

Farmington

Valley View Community School

By Kelly Gagnon

Valley View Community School’s annual Holiday Concert will take place on Monday, Dec. 17 at 6:30 p.m, at Farmington High School. The program this year is entitled “Flakes.” VVCS asks that students participating in the concert arrive, with their parents, at 6:20 p.m. Parent teacher conferences took place on Nov. 19. Parents who were not available to hold a conference are encouraged to contact their child’s teacher to review their child’s progress in school this year.

There will be an early release from school on Wednesday, Dec. 12. Dismissal will begin at 12:25 p.m.

MILTON

Nute High School and Library

By Kristina Cerniauskas

Ms. Jane Weymouth has been Nute High School’s Student Support Center teacher for four years, and this year she is going to be coaching the N.H.S. Girls’ Varsity Basketball team. Throughout Ms. Weymouth’s coaching career, she has coached girls’ college basketball at Newbury College, Miami North College, Florida Atlantic University, and Franklin Pierce University, and she also coached last year’s Nute Middle School Girls’ Basketball team.

Julie Donlon will be assisting Ms. Weymouth throughout this year’s season, and she will also be coaching the N.H.S. Junior Varsity Basketball team. Julie Donlon graduated from Nute H.S., and she played basketball during all four years of high school. At Nute, she earned a tremendous number of career points, 2,502, the Nute High School record. Julie Donlon received a four-year basketball scholarship at UNH where she continued her career.

These two coaches are looking forward to a successful basketball season, and to win enough games to be able to host a tournament game towards the end of the season. They are also working towards making every player play up to their best ability, and they will advance their skills throughout the season.

The Girls’ Varsity Basketball team’s returning players are Sophomores Annessa Cummer, Mariah Burke, and Alisha Flanagan, Juniors Michelle Guindon, Jess McCassie, and Brittany Locke, and Senior Abby Flanagan. This year, we will have three more players on the team, Senior Ashley Shipman, and Sophomores Kelsey Taatjes and Erin St. Lawrence.

The Girls’ Junior Varsity Basketball team includes Freshmen Jess Corriveau, Brianna Cruz, Deseriea Driscoll, Casey Wachowiak, and Alissa Mitchell and Sophomores Caitlyn Catino, Alex Crossley, and Shania Santoro-Nason. Shannon St. Lawrence and Nicole Flanagan will be swinging up from Nute Middle School to play for the J.V. team.